June 16, 2011 For Foliage Follow-Up today (always on the day after Bloom Day), I’m celebrating plants that don’t require my standing over them with a hose. I have to admit, central Texas’s extended drought is taking a toll even on my xeric garden. Coneflowers are drooping. Daylilies are shriveling …

June 15, 2011 Our wretched heat and exceptional drought continue. But plenty of plants love the oven-like temps and flaunt blooms despite dry conditions. Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) is a summer favorite, with red flowers and contrasting blue-green leaves. Echeveria likes to stay out of the Death Star’s beam, but it …

June 13, 2011 My friend and colleague Ivette Soler, aka The Germinatrix, has just published her first book, The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden (Timber Press, 2011). I’m so happy for her accomplishment and am certain her book will do well. Ivette has …

June 08, 2011 I came of age as a gardener when the native-plant movement was already well-established, in a progressive city that encourages its citizens to harvest rainwater, recycle yard trimmings through a city composting program, replace lawn grass with xeric plantings, and forgo weed-and-feed chemical treatments for their lawns …

June 07, 2011 Spotted, knobby kneed fawns are taking their first wobbly walks through the neighborhood, even in broad daylight under a strong, noonday sun. This doe and fawn strolled through my neighbor’s yard a few days ago, enjoying the cool green of the grass, I imagine. The fawn stopped …

June 06, 2011 I stumbled upon Chanticleer Garden by happy accident while on a driving trip down the East Coast during the summer of 2008. It was, and still is, the most engaging, playful, and beautiful garden I’ve seen. (Click here for the first of my six posts about Chanticleer.) …

June 03, 2011 The succulent wall pleases me to no end, and from unexpected angles of viewing. I particularly like this view from below, as I climb the steps to the upper patio. I even love the gray, matte color of the blocks juxtaposed with the soft mauves and cool …

June 02, 2011 Here’s a virtual bouquet for my mother, who was named for this June day. Happy birthday, Mom! ‘Colorado’ water lily, up close and personal (also pictured at top) Nymphaea ‘Colorado’ is a total knockout from any angle. ‘Lavender Lady’ passionflower looks like an alien life form. Each …

June 01, 2011 The heartleaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovata) is going to seed against a backdrop of chartreuse bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa) and burgundy cordyline (Cordyline australis ‘Red Star’). Tough plants, every one. Heartleaf skullcap is the spring-blooming native. Cordyline is a cold-tender but dry-shade-tolerant subtropical that I replant every year …

May 31, 2011 ‘Peter’s Purple’ monarda, which I ordered from Plant Delights last fall, is the first bee balm I’ve tried. In its description, Plant Delights quotes Jimmy Turner, director of research at the Dallas Arboretum trial gardens, as saying that ‘Peter’s Purple’ is “the only Monarda that doesn’t die …

May 29, 2011 A madly singing mockingbird wakes us up most mornings. Through another window I can hear a nest of new chicks peeping for breakfast. Though no morning person, I headed outside with the camera to see what has all the birds in a tizzy. Well, it’s spring, of …

May 25, 2011 I think the Munsterman garden, soon to be sold to some lucky buyer, along with the house, was my favorite on the May 21 Dallas Open Days tour. What can I say? I’m a sucker for garden rooms and colorful, inviting seating areas surrounded by striking foliage …

May 24, 2011 Our second stop on the Dallas Open Days tour last Saturday was the Anglophile garden of Alan Rister and Greg Armstrong in the Knox/Henderson neighborhood. Beautifully crafted formal hardscaping by landscape architect Susi Tompson is softened by lavish plantings designed and maintained by the owners. Anchoring the …

May 23, 2011 As if there weren’t enough garden tours in Austin this spring, I drove up to Dallas on May 21st for that city’s Open Days tour benefiting the Garden Conservancy, accompanied by my daughter. Undaunted by the 3-hour drive, we arrived first at the exotically named Blue Lotus …